The 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics

The 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to three scientists. These scientists are Rainer Wiess, an American who is a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The other two recipients are from the California Institute of Technology, and they are Barry Barish and Kip Thorne. The three were honored for their discovery of ripples in space-time. They referred to the phenomena as gravitational waves. However, this is a phenomenon that had been predicted 100 years ago by Albert Einstein. The announcement was made by the Royal Swedish Academy, and they referred to the achievement as a discovery that shook the world. This feat that was achieved in February 2016. A group of international astronomers in collaboration with the physicists said that they had managed to record gravitational waves. At the same time, they said that the waves had emanated from a collision of huge black holes which they said were a billion light-years away. This is an achievement that shook the world. As a result, the discovery helped to prove that Albert Einstein was correct in his prediction that space-time had the capability of shaking like a bowlful of jelly. However, for this to happen, massive objects had to act on their weight.

The three physicists are veterans in their own fields, and their ages is a proof. DR. Barish is 81 while Dr. Thorne is 77. On the other hand, Dr. Weiss is 85 years. These three were the leaders of a program known as the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory or LIGO. For starters, this is the organization that was responsible for detecting the gravitational waves. At the same time, the instrument is said to belong to a sister organization that is referred to as LIGO Scientific Collaboration. This is a team that worked with thousands of scientists as it involved the analysis of huge tons of data. According to the announcement by the Nobel, Dr.Weiss will be entitled to half the prize which is equivalent to $1.1 million while the other two scientists will share the remainder. Their discovery cemented the General Theory of Relativity that was announced back in 1916. Using this theory, Albert Einstein told of a universe that had time and space as dynamic. Dr. Weiss accepted the nomination in absentia. He said that people including his funders thought that he was out of his mind when he explained the idea to them. He was funded by the National Science Foundation.